Venom: Flights of Thought
by L-Dog Z
Summary: One-Shot, set in the same continuity as my other fics, but set a bit after them. On his way to his first fight with Jack'O Lantern, Flash Thompson thinks about his life; reminiscing on how he grew from a jerk into a war hero, the effect other people have had on him, and what made him decide to wear the suit.


I've recently been reading Flash's Venom series, along with Secret Avengers, and so far I've really enjoyed it. It's a pretty cool idea what they're going with, and I wanted to write something with it. But, my current story is based before the Black Suit comes in so I can't have even Peter use it yet, so I decided I'd try writing a one shot about it. It should help with getting my writing juices flowing so I can snap out of this writers block too. So, yeah, just a single one shot, based in a future point in my story's timeline when Flash is Agent Venom, and also my first attempt at writing a first person perspective. Enjoy, don't forget to review.

…

_Atlantic Ocean, approaching New York City. The criminal lunatic known as Jack'O Lantern is on a rampage near Empire State University; Spider-Man was knocked out cold when he tried to intervene and is ow trapped underneath a building. Moon Knight, Daredevil, and other heroes in the area are similarly preoccupied, leaving the pumpkin headed psychopath to run wild and get away with what he wants._

_Not on my watch._

_My name is Flash Thompson, I'm a corporal in the United States Army, a student at Midtown High, and I happen to be about to face my biggest challenge of my lifetime. For once in my life, I'm the only thing standing in between complete, and utter, anarchy._

_About a year ago, the only worry I had was getting picked for this year's starting line up, whether I'd be able to pass enough classes to stay on the team, whether I could get away with utterly humiliating some kid because I thought it would make everyone laugh. I thought I was king of school, the guy everyone looked up to in respect, who made the biggest difference to the school. I was an idiot. I was a stupid, selfish, egotistical dumbass who couldn't keep a happy relationship with anyone. I was the villain, and when I realized that, it made me throw up inside._

_So, I changed that. I stopped beating everyone up, I even broke up other people's fights and bet up other bullies trying to take my place. I put down my fists, started to sort out my hell of a social life, and you know what? It got me a real friend. Peter Parker, the skinny kid I used to make miserable for the sake of a laugh. He, he actually forgave me for the stuff I did. He let me in. He let me grow up. He showed me how to actually make real friends instead of just bullying people, and now, I'm actually part of a little group of friends. There was Peter, MJ, all of them, all of them accepted my apologies and managed to keep me in line. But something was missing. I needed something, something no one could show me how to get. I needed to make up for the crap I did._

_I enlisted, joined the good guys, worked my ass off to get to the top of my class in West Point, came home, helped fight off a psycho dressed in green with a metal glider who was terrorising the city, then went to some god forsaken desert in some country that I can't even pronounce the name of, to fight an enemy that has been blinded by some hate spewing psychopath who became a martyr when some SEALs took him down._

_I didn't fight for my life out there, I fought for my country. For the first time in my life, I actually contributed to society. I got promotions, medals, things that actually mattered that I actually earned, before my team got ambushed on our way to home base, and I went back to carry two of my squad-mates out of the line of fire. I carried them twenty miles before I got hit. When I lost my legs in a mine going off, I felt pain. Indescribable pain. It burnt, it felt like I was dying. But you know what? It felt great. I did it. I gave my legs to my country. I was stuck in a chair, unable to even go to the bathroom by myself, but I'd never been more proud of what I could do then I was when I did that._

_But, that didn't last. I came home a war hero, but not everyone respected that. I got mugged on the street five days after coming home. I punk I could of took before I completed basic training, who got me down because of this stupid chair I was stuck in. I lost it. I couldn't even help when some psycho made out of a thousand spiders tried to eat my best friend right in front of me, or when they tried to eat me. Do you have any idea what it feels like, to be unable to help someone you actually give a damn about? The only thing that stopped me becoming the same boozed up mess my old man was, was a girl. I met her a few years ago, in my freshmen year. She was a senior; she wasn't the head of any special club or clique, but she was nice; didn't speak to her much at that point, but she was pretty cool. After meeting again a few times, I reconnected after came home from war, and unlike every other person, she didn't tiptoe around my chair. She didn't treat me like I was some poor kid, she treated me like a human being. Her name is Betty Brant, she works at the Daily Bugle, with Peter and some other people. That kept me going. I had something with her, I could actually really feel something with her. She kept me out of the darkness. Away from the bottle, away from the way my dad ended up. She's the woman I see myself marrying one day._

_Then, we get here. A few days ago, some big top cop in some big government project came to me. He knew I was in a bad place, and gave me a shot. There's this, alien creature, that some scientists picked up a few years ago, that's bounced around a bit. SHIELD had it in lockdown, then Spider-Man got it, then Brock, and some other guys. It gets messy from there, but the point is, the government got it back, and they wanted to weaponise it. They gave me this chance, this opportunity to do good. This suit, it changes, shapes itself however you want it to look. All I need to do is wear it, and I can stand again. Walk again. Fight again. I've got the power to kill anything in my way, and right now, I'm getting ready to kill a madman who's put my friends at risk._

_My name is Eugene 'Flash' Thompson. I'm Venom. And right now? I'm using something designed for evil, to fight for good, using tactics designed to kill. I'm in love with a smart, independent woman, best friends with the one of the greatest people I could ever hope to meet, and about to fight my first super villain. It took a wakeup call and my legs to get it, but I'm here now. And things have never been better._

…

That's it, hope you enjoyed it. Again, not my usual style, but thought I'd get this done. Unfortunately my story, Spider-Man Evolution, isn't far enough for this development to happen yet, and as I'm still bound by certain events depicted in my other stories, means I can't even give Flash character growth yet. Fortunately, I've planned out the story in seasons, with season two starting soon. Flash's character arc is going to take place in season four, which along with other plots involves Flash growing up, sorting his life out, then joining the army, and the following season will be his development into Anti Venom. Harry and Hobie have similar character arcs planned too, but much different and involve different storylines.


End file.
